AMES, Iowa -- An Iowa State University electrical and
computer engineering research team received $350,000 in
research funding to develop new technologies that detect
external damage to natural gas and liquid pipelines.

The researchers will apply neural computer networks to
improve the accuracy and reliability of interpreting data
collected by pipeline inspection devices called "smart pigs."
The team also will investigate the feasibility of using new
electromagnetic methods for detecting stress corrosion
cracks, which occur in pipelines under certain temperature,
stress and soil chemistry conditions.

The funding is part of a $1.9 million, two-year research
contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation to
Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio. Iowa State and
the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, are
subcontractors to Battelle in this project.

The three institutions previously cooperated on similar
research which was funded by the Gas Research Institute,
Chicago, and involved technology used to inspect pipelines
that carry natural gas.

"The single largest factor contributing to pipeline incidents
is mechanical damage from construction excavations or natural
causes like ground movement," Satish Udpa said. "We want to
determine if a pipeline has suffered damage from outside
forces without excavating it."

The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the nation's
network of more than one million miles of pipelines.